The Education Authority (EA) has issued admission emails for Primary 1 and nursery places almost a week early in ‘error’, as a number of schools say they were not made aware of the mistake.
The admission information was due to be sent to parents awaiting details of their child’s placement for the 2025/26 academic year on April 9, however many reported receiving details on Thursday morning.
The emails, which included the name of the school where the parent’s child had been offered a place, were issued at 6.30am on April 3 – almost a week ahead of schedule.
Information in the emails directed parents to log in and accept their placement offer, however this function is not yet active.
“Please note that in some schools this offer of a place may be conditional on you providing verifying documents,” the emails read.
“Where required the school will be in contact with you in due course and will indicate which documents are needed in line with its admissions criteria.”
A number of schools reported that EA had not been given prior notice of the release.
Andrews Memorial Primary School in Co Down told parents and guardians that the EA had “inadvertently released” a number of placement decisions.
“Schools were not given prior notice of this situation and we appreciate that this may cause confusion and concern for some families if your child has not been awarded a place, or indeed if an email has not been received,” they said in a statement.
“We expect EA Admissions to provide communication and clarification this morning which will be relayed to parents once received.”
An original email sent on Wednesday said that almost 24,000 parents would be receiving details next week but added that some “will receive their emails before others”.
Alliance MLA for Lagan Valley, Michelle Guy, said that EA had “confirmed” to her that the early release had been made “in error” and that schools did “not appear to have been made aware” of the issue.
“The important bit for parents is the information on the letter is accurate in terms of the place their child has been allocated,” she said.
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An EA spokesperson said that “most parents/carers” received and “early notification” on Thursday morning.
“We are currently investigating why the system issued notifications earlier than scheduled and we apologise for any inconvenience caused,” they said.
“Please be assured the outcome of your child’s application in your email is correct.
“If you have not received an email, please contact our Admissions team on 028 9047 0177.”
Parents will be able to accept or reject their offer from midday on April 7 and do not need to contact schools.
IT services company Version 1 has since apologised to EA and parents for the early release, saying that it was due to a “human error during testing of the EA connect portal”.
“We are actively investigating to understand how it happened,” a spokesperson said.
“We recognise the additional pressure early notification has placed on school principals and staff, and we are committed to providing the necessary support to manage the situation.”
